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Dad Claims Small Country in Africa Just to Name His Daughter Princess

This week in unbelievable news, a dad has gone to some incredible lengths just to keep a promise he made to his 7-year-old daughter: that she would become a real-life princess one day.

Apparently, Jeremiah Heaton of Virginia wasn't willing to risk the chance that his princess-obsessed daughter may not actually grow up to marry a royal one day. (Hey, we can't all snag Prince Harry.) So he turned her into one himself, by flying overseas and planting a flag into a small 800-square-mile patch of land that is not currently claimed by Egypt or the Sudan. The small bit of country is known as Bir Tawil, but Heaton renamed it the Kingdom of North Sudan — and immediately crowned his daughter Princess Emily, the ruler of the land.

"Over the winter, Emily and I were playing, and she has a fixation on princesses," Heaton told the Times Dispatch. "She asked me in all seriousness if she'd be a real princess someday and I said she would." (Can you imagine if every princess-loving girl had a dad who took promises this seriously?)

After much research, the Heaton — who may look familiar because of his run for Congress back in 2012 — discovered Bir Tawil. "It's beautiful there," said Heaton. "It's an arid desert in Northeastern Africa. Bedouins roam the area [but] the population is actually zero."

The dedicated pops was granted special permission by Egypt to even travel to the region. But once he did, he immediately bought a crown for the newly coronated "Princess Emily," and has instructed the entire family to address her in kind.

When asked about her thoughts on the whole being-a-real-life-princess thing, she only had this to say: "It's cool."

Hmm ... who wants to place bets that this kid will be totally over princesses next month and on to something new?